The Five Universal Rules for Creating a Killer Logo

The logo is a brand’s face.

It's one of the first things your potential customers will see when they come into contact with your business.

It’s a symbol that should help you make an impression instantly.

It can be overwhelming to consider the millions of options you have available to you when considering a direction for your brand's logo, but if you stick to these five universal rules, you'll be heading up the right track:

01. It needs to be unique

Uniqueness is the most important element. The logo needs to identify you from other competitors so it should be markedly different to their logos.

02. Keep it simple

Simple logos are recognised faster than complex ones. Strong lines and letters show up better than thin ones, and clean, simple logos reduce and enlarge much better than complicated ones.

03. Limit your colours

Only use a few distinctive colours and think about how it will work in black and white.

04. Make it scalable

A good logo should work on a billboard and on a stamp. Intricate shapes and arrangements won’t work at smaller scale so simplicity is key.

05. Balance is important

The logo as a block should appear evenly weighted. It’s shape should span between a square or a 1:1.6 ratio (this ratio is not a hard-and-fast rule). Edges should be straight or have a balanced curve or arc.

Another important thing to remember and really get your head around is that your logo only needs to identify you in a positive way. It should not try to spell out what services you offer or your company's values. That only serves to complicate things and a convoluted logo communicates poorly.

Let the rest of your brand touchpoints - your colours, typography, stationery, tone of voice, website, marketing materials - do the heavy lifting when it comes to telling your story once you've got the customers in the door so to speak.

If you have any questions on this or anything else design-related, please don't hesitate to drop me a line:

Call Mat: +61 434 724 459

Email Mat: matfaintdesignco@gmail.com

L2iQ (Layer 2 Intelligence)

COMMUNICATING COMPLEXITY

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THE PROJECT:

L2iQ is one of Australia's leading rail communications engineering firms.

They've played key roles in building the networks for most of the major Australian rail projects in the past ten years.

They've lent their expertise to large firms and government bodies such as the NSW Government, the ACT Government, John Holland, Thales and Acciona.

I was tasked with giving some visual clarity to their service list by helping them to communicate their capabilities with clean, iconographic illustrations.

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THE APPROACH:

At the commencement of the project the L2iQ brand comprised of a logo and a prominent brand colour.

In developing a suite of illustrations that are to be used in concert with branded documents and pitch decks, I first extended the colour palette and adopted two contemporary, technical typefaces to amplify the sense of expertise and complexity in their work.

The suite of illustrations were all in aid of helping clients and collaborators to better understand and visualise the nuances of L2iQ's services.

The anchor of the entire suite was a large isometric overview of their services by taking a look across a section of rail network and pointing out all of the interconnected facets that rely on L2iQ's expertise.

This overview provided a portal for readers who could then delve deeper into each individual competency further into the capability statement.

Each of these capabilities opened up on an iconographic illustration that gave readers a quick sense of the value of each capability and how it affects or benefits the entire rail network as a system.

I borrowed from traditional rail and engineering symbolism through the use of straight and 45 degree linework (a la the conventional metro railway map), isometric features, radio network airwaves and dashboard icons just to name a few examples.

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LINKS & MORE INFO

L2iQ is one of Australia's leading rail networking engineering firms.

layer2intelligence.com.au

Mat Faint Design Co. is a Sydney-based graphic design agency and illustration studio. Mat helps businesses of all sizes to communicate and amplify their strengths through elegant design and resplendent illustration.

matfaint.com

JPL Partners

A BRAND REFRESH FOR ONE OF SYDNEY'S MOST AGILE ACCOUNTING & BUSINESS ADVISORY FIRMS

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THE PROJECT:

JPL Partners is a boutique accounting and business advisory firm headquartered in Sydney's south.

They originally opened their doors in 1997 as P. Liddy & Associates and have been serving a steadily growing client base ever since.

July 2020 marked a new chapter in their business with the introduction of a new partner and with this change came a new approach toward being more technology and advisory-focused than they had been previously.

I was engaged to help them communicate this institutional change and strategic pivot to their existing clients and help usher in a new swathe of business clients.

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THE APPROACH:

I set about building a brand that encapsulated the firm's professionalism and new technological focus.

The logo illustrates JPL Partners' dedication to helping their clients grow and prosper. The upward pointing chevron device and arrow hidden in the negative space evokes a sense of positivity and an optimism about the future.

The use of one single colour gives the logo a versatility that allows it to be used effectively in a wide array of applications without compromising the strength of the brand.

As a legacy firm with a diverse array of clients, stationery remains a key medium for communicating with clients. I developed a suite of easy-to-use documents and templates that make use of a defined grid structure and employ horizontal lines that pay homage to the age-old accountants' ledger.

The JPL Brand is anchored by a bold and resplendent blue that speaks to the firm's modern approach to helping clients manage their businesses.

The brand's typeface is a humanist typeface called Questrial. The round and circular shape of the characters captures the firm's desire to welcome their clients and create an environment of safety, security and care.

The JPL Partners website is easy to navigate and its home page has been designed and built to allow customers to find the information they need without having to dig deep down into the site map.

As part of the branding process, we worked on a marketing plan that would put the new brand in front of clients on a more regular basis. This plan centres around a monthly email update and a regular blog posting schedule. This plan allows JPL Partners the avenue to provide valuable information to their clients and helps cement their reputation for peerless household finance and small business operational advice.

THE RESULTS:

The unveiling of the new brand triggered more than one hundred calls on the first day of trading and new signage spurred two new business enquiries on the day they were installed - paying for themselves almost instantly.

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LINKS & MORE INFO

JPL Partners is one of Sydney's most agile accounting and business advisory firms. They've been helping individuals and businesses in southern Sydney make smarter decisions with their finances since 1997.

jplpartners.com.au

Mat Faint Design Co. is a graphic design and illustration studio based in Paddington, Sydney. Mat helps businesses of all sizes to encapsulate, amplify and communicate their strengths visually through elegant design and resplendent illustration.

matfaint.com